BATON ROUGE - LSU smacked around another ranked opponent Saturday, dismantling a No. 17 Florida team that seems a shell of its recent glory. Every time that happens, another game four weeks down the road looms a little larger and comes into better focus for the No. 1-ranked Tigers.

Even before the last seconds of the LSU's 41-11 victory against the depleted Gators ticked off, the LSU student section was chanting "We want Bama!"

While it certainly seems like the Tigers are headed for a showdown with the No. 2 Crimson Tide, LSU cornerback Tyrann Mathieu said his team isn't ready to go there just yet.

"That game's not going anywhere," said Mathieu, who grabbed his second interception of the season as the Tigers held Florida to 213 yards. "That game's coming.

"We just have to take after Tennessee now."

LSU appeared focused at the start, striking quickly with two first-quarter touchdowns. The defense shackled the Gators, who were down to their third-string quarterback and forced to run a great deal of plays from the Wildcat formation.

Quarterback Jarrett Lee hit Rueben Randle with a 46-yard scoring pass and Spencer Ware ran 2 yards for a touchdown. LSU extended its lead to 24-3 at the half and although it fell into an offensive lull at times, the Tigers finished strong.

It was the biggest margin of victory for LSU (6-0, 3-0 in SEC play) against Florida since a 48-7 beating in 1971, and shows a large separation between the two programs that each won two BCS titles the past decade.

"Any time you can beat Florida you've got to be happy," said guard Will Blackwell, who helped the offense to a season high 238 yards rushing, 109 by Ware.

"We've beaten four or five quality opponents, three SEC wins out of six. That boosts our confidence tremendously going into next week and the weeks ahead. We've got Tennessee and Auburn coming up before the bye week. We're going to take the time to buckle down, focus and keep this thing going on the right track."

Once again the defense ruled, sending an early message to the Gators (4-2, 2-2). Florida went three-and-out on its first two series with one yard in those six plays.

Switching between freshman quarterback Jacoby Brissett and veterans Trey Burton and Chris Rainey out of the Wildcat, the Gators drove 13 plays to a field goal just before halftime. But that and a 65-yard scoring pass from Brissett to Andre Debose in the third quarter were all the visitors could muster.

"Defensively, too many big plays and penalties killed us," said Florida Coach Will Muschamp, a former LSU defensive coordinator. "We've got to get better on the line of scrimmage.

"We wore out as the game wore on, but we didn't force turnovers. We've got to come up with ways to stop the run game better than we're doing."

LSU football: Les Miles talks about jump passLSU football coach Les Miles talks about the Tigers' decision to call a jump pass that resulted in a touchdown pass from Jordan Jefferson to Mitch Joseph against Florida on Saturday at Tiger Stadium.

LSU's offense continued to improve with a balanced attacked and season-high 453 yards. Alfred Blue supported Ware with 70 yards rushing and touchdown and Lee combined with Jordan Jefferson to completed 10 of 14 passes for 215 yards and two scores. Jefferson's touchdown pass to Mitch Joseph came on an identical jump pass play to tight end Mitch Joseph that Florida executed against LSU in 2006 with Tim Tebow doing the honors.

Jefferson took the snap on third-and-goal from the 2, ran toward the line and then jumped up and tossed the ball to Joseph, who scored his first career touchdown.

"Having the feeling inside that they finally called this play, everything played out and it was the greatest feeling in the world," said Joseph, an effective blocker but seldom used as a receiver. "I had to sell the run and block him for a second or two and release inside. Right when I turned around I saw him release it and it was a perfect pass."

Forced to punt again because of a penalty, Wing took the long snap and took off running when Florida didn't pressure him. Wing had clear sailing and ran into the end zone easily behind a block from Chase Clement. But on his way, near the 8 he turned and gestured toward the Florida defenders and was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct.

LSU punter Brad Wing talks about his nullified touchdownLSU punter Brad Wing explains what was going through his mind as he raced downfield for what would have been a touchdown on a fake punt in the first quarter against Florida on Saturday. He was called for unsportsmanlike conduct, which nullified the score.

Under a new rule instituted by the NCAA, the touchdown was taken off the board and LSU was penalized 15 yards to the Florida 23-yard line. It's the first time the rule has been enforced this season. LSU had to settle for a 35-yard Drew Alleman field goal four plays later.

"When I saw the block by Chase, my emotions got the better of me," said Wing, a freshman from Australia. "I dream all the time about getting into the end zone. I was excited and didn't mean any disrespect.

"It just sort of happened how it happened."

Wing said he apologized to Miles and the team afterward.

Jefferson saw increased action after returning from suspension for seven plays last week against Kentucky. His first pass resulted in a 37-yard gain to Russell Shepard to set up Ware's 8-yard scoring run in the second quarter. Jefferson was 3-of-4 four for 61 yards and ran four times for 7 yards.

Lee hooked up with Randle again for 57 yards to set up the jump-pass touchdown. Randle caught four passes for a season-high 127 yards.

LSU plays at Tennessee next weekend and returns home to face Auburn followed by an open date. Then LSU goes to Alabama on Nov. 5 for a game that likely will decide the Western Division championship - and possibly more.

"We don't have a game circled or anything like that," senior linebacker Ryan Baker said. "We're taking them one at a time, capitalizing on our opportunities and building on what we have going. We feel like we're a whole lot better defense than when we got here, when we started the season."